1st winter storm of the season wallops Saskatchewan
2 separate systems expected to dump up to 20 cm of snow on the province
Saskatchewan got hit with its first major snowstorm of the season Monday night, with much of the province remaining under a snowfall and winter storm warning Tuesday.
"Definitely a wintry scene to begin with today," said Dan Fulton, a meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).
Fulton said areas around Melfort, Humboldt and Nipawin were hit the hardest overnight, receiving about 15 centimetres of snow.
He said those areas could expect to see more snow accumulate throughout the day, with ECCC warning of hazardous conditions for much of the province.
Saskatoon police say they responded to 19 crashes from midnight to 2 p.m. CST on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Saskatchewan RCMP received 44 reports of crashes and other road incidents through the province between 7 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. CST. The most common were vehicles in the ditch and jackknifed semis.
No injuries were reported, RCMP say.
Cheryl Carlson works at the Watrous Co-op gas station, about 121 kilometres southeast of Saskatoon, and said the highways around her are down to one lane, with glare ice and blowing snow.
"We're shovelling our sidewalks every 20 minutes just to keep them clear," Carlson said, adding that truck drivers are saying people should stay off the roads.
"People have been slipping just getting out of their vehicle, it's very treacherous in the Watrous area."
The Saskatchewan Highway Hotline said travel was not recommended on Highways 2 and 15 around Watrous Tuesday morning.
The heavy, wet snow coupled with wind gusts up to 60 kilometres per hour reduced visibility on the roads and made for some treacherous driving conditions.
RCMP reported several accidents related to the storm, including a semi that jacknifed on the highway near Belle Plaine and a vehicle hitting the ditch near Fort Qu'Appelle.
Jitender Saini works at the Flying J Travel Centre in Balgonie, 30 kilometres east of Regina, and said truckers stopping in are saying it's too dangerous to be on the highway without the weight of a full load.
"Past Fort Qu'Appelle it's bad. Ice only on the road. You cannot drive on it."
RCMP said a semi truck also rolled on Highway 1 about 10 kilometres east of Indian Head, but didn't have further details on that accident.
The storm cut a wide swath through the centre of the province, from Nipawin down through Saskatoon, Outlook and east to Regina, with many of those areas seeing as much as 10 centimetres of snow overnight, Fulton said.
ECCC is expecting the storm to continue today as a second, southeasterly system moves into the province bringing heavy, wet snow to the east.
"The further east you go the worse things are going to get," Fulton said.
ECCC is warning of wind gusts reaching 80 kilometres per hour and an additional 15 centimetres of snow as the second system moves through the province.
Fulton said the storm will taper off on Wednesday, but that ECCC is predicting snowfall will continue for the next couple of days.
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